Just As You Are
by MinDanFan
Summary: This one-shot follows about 1-2 weeks post-DCPT. It won't include anything from tonight's new episode, because it hasn't happened yet!


Mindy snuggled closer on the couch next to Cliff, her own voice narrating the evening in her head, as if it were a movie. It was early enough in the relationship that she was able to convince him to join her for a rom-com marathon. She sighed happily as they watched one of the most perfect scenes in film history, when Bridget Jones learns that Mark Darcy likes her very much, just as she is.

"Isn't this the most romantic scene in a movie ever?"

"Sure, I guess. Not too realistic though."

Mindy furrowed her brow in confusion as she muted the television and turned her body toward her new boyfriend.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, him saying that he likes her just as she is. No one thinks that. In real life, he would be thinking she needs to lose a few pounds, cut her hair, and quit smoking."

Mindy paused for a moment as Cliff leaned forward casually to grab some pretzels from the bowl on the table.

"So, there would be things you would change about me."

"Of course," Cliff replied before realization jumped across his face. "Um, no, that wasn't what I meant. I just meant that everyone wonders what it would be like if their partner were thinner or taller or more toned. All of that stuff."

Mindy stood up and crossed her arms protectively across her body.

"You know what, Cliff. I don't think we should see each other anymore."

Cliff knew it was over. Nothing he could say could bring him back from this. "Fine, but you should know Mindy, you're not going to find some Hollywood romance in the real world. That's just not how it works."

"I'm not looking for some perfect ideal…just someone who likes me the way I am. I think that's worth holding out for. You can see yourself out."

Mindy held her composure until the door closed behind Cliff and then the tears streamed down her face. Once again, let down. She was so damn tired of thinking each potential relationship would the final one for her. Last year, she might have just settled for someone who secretly wanted to change aspects of her, but Danny's kind words had given her hope and hope could be such a dangerous things sometimes. She glanced at the time. 11:34 PM. It was late, but it was also a Friday night. She grabbed her coat and bag and marched with purpose out the door.

A 15-minute taxi ride later, she banged on Danny's door. He opened it, confusion on his face. She barely registered his plaid red pajama pants and black t-shirt.

"I hate you," she announced as she marched into the apartment.

"Um, nice to see you too…"

"Fine, I don't hate you, but why did you have to say all that nice stuff to me? Because you're wrong, you know. Cliff let me know quite directly that there are certainly things about my body he would change."

Danny closed the door, his voice taking on a stronger Staten Island accent, though not angry in nature. "Why are you yelling at me? He's the jerk!"

Mindy collapsed onto the couch, a sense of depletion coursing through her body. She took a few deep breaths as Danny watched her from across the room.

"I know. I'm sorry, Danny. I'm just frustrated. The boyfriend is supposed to think I'm perfect and there's nothing to change…but I guess it doesn't work like that in real life. All those things you said…you made me believe that someone could think that about me. "

She sighed deeply, burying her hands in her face. She felt the couch dip next to her as Danny sat down. She immediately leaned into Danny, not bothering to figure out first if that was his purpose in sitting down next to her. She cried, the realization popping into her mind that she hadn't been in his apartment since their sleep-over, a term she insisted on using and he insisting on ignoring. Even though it was all a farce, she remembered feeling quite comfortable in his arms that night. She was brought back to the current moment by the sensation of his hand moving in soft, soothing circles on her back. It probably should have felt weirder to have him touch her, gentleman-like as it was, given that he had seen her totally naked…twice. They sat in silence for a while and she noticed herself relax more deeply into Danny's embrace. She could hear the ticking of a clock in the otherwise quiet apartment. Mindy lifted herself away from Danny and wiped her eyes, with some embarrassment.

"Just so you know, I'm not crying over Cliff."

"Um, OK…"

"I'm crying over the idea of Cliff. Or maybe the idea that only the Cliffs in the world exist for me."

"Well, all the Cliffs in the world are wrong."

"How do you know?"

"Because someone does think that about you."

"Huh?"

"Someone thinks that there's nothing about you that should change."

"Oh…well, you don't count…"

Mindy noticed a flash of hurt jump across Danny's face. "Why not?"

Mindy's mind flashed back to the scene in his office where she listed out her flaws and was finally silenced by Danny's assertion of "I don't want that." She hadn't realized it at the time as she was so caught up in her own monologue but he was talking about himself…not as a doctor or pseudo personal trainer….but just himself and what he finds attractive in a woman. When she said she should have a boob job and suck fat from her body, he simply responded that _he_ didn't want that. So did that mean that he wanted _her_…just as she was right now?

She shook herself from her internal monologue and her eyes connected with Danny's own that were staring openly at her. He didn't look hurt necessarily anymore, but he had that look on his face that had oddly become familiar to her. It was the same one that she noticed in her peripheral vision on the plane after they held hands and in the hospital lounge and in the office at the holiday party. He glanced down at her lips and back to her eyes. She realized that he was waiting for an answer from her. She didn't know what to say. Or rather, she knew what she wanted to say but just didn't know how to say it. Danny had slowly become one of her best friends. She relied on him. She trusted him. She felt content when she was with him. And now, now she felt adored…and not in that Hollywood way that Cliff had reminded her didn't exist, but rather in that simple way that just meant that someone in the world felt it was a better place because you existed. She realized that deep inside, she believed that her world was better because Danny was in it. And that all felt a little bit like love.

"Danny…"

"Yea?"

"It does count. It counts the most. In fact, you might be the only one that counts."

A smile flitted across Danny's lips. "OK…well, that's good, right?"

"It is good. It's really good."

Danny leaned closer, stopping for a moment…testing the waters. Mindy smiled and pulled him to her, crashing their lips together in a kiss that shifted from desperate to passionate to gentle. Danny pulled away first as they both caught their breath and stared at each with goofy smiles.

"See, I knew you liked the t-shirts. I mean, you just went on-and-on about my hot body the other day."

"Shut up."

"Is that any way to talk to your new boyfriend?"

Mindy tilted her head to the side while attempting to hold back a smile. Danny knew her tendency to over-analyze and doubt everything. And in one casual sentence, he allayed her fears.

"No, I suppose it isn't. For my apology, I will let you pick your favorite Housewives city."

Danny picked up the remote and tossed it over his shoulder to behind the couch. "Sorry, TV's broken. I guess we'll have to occupy ourselves in some other way."

Mindy laughed as he tossed her down and attacked her lips with his own. The night began and ended for Mindy on a couch…but not in the way she ever could have planned…even though any audience member viewing this movie would have predicted the ending from the start.


End file.
